9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

4500. And came upon the city boldly, and slew every male. That this signifies that they extirpated the truths of doctrine of the Church among the Ancients, is evident from the signification of a “city,” as being the doctrine of the church (n. 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4478), here of the Church among the Ancients, because this church is represented by Hamor and Shechem, whose city it was; from the signification of “boldly,” as being with assurance, here the assurance of what is false and evil; and from the signification of a “male,” as being truth (n. 749, 2046, 4005). Hence it is evident that by “they came upon the city boldly and slew every male” is signified that from the assurance of falsity and evil they extirpated the truths of doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. It was the Church among the Ancients (that came from the Most Ancient Church) which would have been set up with the posterity of Jacob, because the Ancient Church had begun to perish; but it is here described in the internal sense that they extinguished in themselves all the truth of faith and good of charity, thus all the internal of worship, and that therefore no church could be instituted with that posterity; from which it came to pass that because they stubbornly insisted, the mere representative of a church was instituted with them (see n. 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316-4317, 4429, 4433, 4444).

4478. And spoke unto the men of their city, saying. That this signifies persuasion, is evident from the signification of “to speak,” as being to will and also to flow in (see n. 2951, 3037), here to persuade, because he who wills is in persuasion, and he who flows in therefrom, communicates persuasion. The “men of the city” are they who are in truths of doctrine, here who are in similar truths to those represented by Shechem. For in ancient times a city was nothing else than one family of a nation, and the dwelling together of those who were of one family was called a “city.” And as in the internal sense it is not the family that is understood, but the quality of the family in respect to life and doctrine, by “city” is signified the truth of doctrine, and by its “inhabitants” the good of doctrine (see n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216). But when the inhabitants of a city are called the “men” of the city, it is not the good of doctrine but its truths which are then signified, for in the Word “men” [viri] denote truths (n. 3134).